INTRODUCTORY 11conscious movement that aimed at providing reliable and accurate Arabic
versions of literary and cultural works, a movement in which most of the
great Arabic authors of the twentieth century took an active part. The effect
of Arabic translations of western poetry on the development of modern
Arabic poetry from the rise of romanticism to the present day has been
enormous. This can be seen not only in the choice of themes and attitudes but
also in the diction and the very language used.^10
Another important factor in the process of westernization which helped to
shape the course of modem Arabic literature and thought is the increase in
the number of Europeans residing in Egypt (as a result of Muhammad Ali's
encouragement) and consequently the increase of missionary activity and the
spread of European schools. Even more significant in the subsequent develop-
ment of Arabic culture was the role played by European schools in Syria. In
this respect, because of Muhammad Ali's liberal policy towards the Europeans,
the decade of Egyptian occupation of Syria (1831 —40) was of major impor-
tance and has been described by one historian as 'epoch making in the
cultural history of that land'.^11 Missionary activities by the Jesuits and the
British and American Protestants were suddenly intensified and various
educational institutions were established which determined the course of
Arabic culture in Syria and the Lebanon. There was strong competition
between the Jesuits and the American Protestants in this area. After the
Lebanon achieved independence in 1860 as a result of the influence of
western governments, European (and Russian) educational institutions were
set up onawiderscalestill, and these includedschoolsforgirls.The Americans,
who had started a college in 1847, founded the American College in 1866 in
Beirut, to which the Jesuit College was transferred in 1874. The graduates of
these institutions played a formative role in the movement of westernization
in Arabic literature. The Lebanese and Syrian cultural revival revealed itself
in a number of ways. The first attempts at writing Arabic drama and the Arab-
ic novel were made in Beirut, the former by Marunal-Naqqash in 1847 and the
latter by Salim al-Bustani in 1870. Literary societies began to appear in Beirut
in 1847, the first being the Syrian Society which, inspired by the American
missionaries, aimed at promoting the cause of arts and sciences among
Arabic-speaking people, and included among its members distinguished men
like the American missionary, physician and scientist-orientalist Dr Van
Dyck, and authors like Butrus al-Bustani and Nasif al-YazijI. Periodicals
appeared in rapid succession and some of them published translations and
adaptations of works of fiction (together with original works). The well-
known cultural review al-Muqtataf which gave the Arab reader much in-
formation about the intellectual life of the West" was brought out in Beirut